SINGAPORE, Oct 29 — She poured boiling water over her maid’s genitals and joined in to extract the Indonesian woman’s two front teeth with pliers.
Yesterday, divorcee Maselly Ab Aziz, 38, was the last in a family of maid abusers to be convicted of these offences committed in 2007.
Her two children and a woman described in court as Maselly’s lesbian lover were jailed last year for their part in abusing the maid.
During a three-week trial earlier this year, Maselly claimed that 30-year-old Badingah had asked to be punished to make up for her wrongdoings.
But District Judge Jeffrey Sim told Maselly: “It may well be that the maid may have committed mistakes...but this does not justify the offences.”
The judge was convinced that Maselly had hit Ms Badingah with a metal rod and threatened to kill her if she did not return S$60 (RM147) that she was accused of stealing.
All the offences occurred in June and July that year.
In July 2007, Badingah escaped by jumping from a window of the second-storey flat near Havelock Road to seek help.
She was found with numerous injuries including bruises, cuts, an infected scalp and scalding on her genitals, thigh, arms, and back.
The court heard that Maselly told the maid to wear clothes that covered her arms and legs, a headscarf as well as a mask over her mouth, so that the injuries and scars would be concealed.
Maselly will be sentenced next Wednesday. For issuing the death threat alone, she could be jailed up to seven years.
During the trial, she argued that the maid’s injuries were all self-inflicted.
She also claimed that the maid had asked for her teeth to be pulled out as she was afraid of injections and did not want to see a dentist.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Cheng Thiam dismissed her story, calling it incredulous, as Maselly’s daughter, son and the other woman had all pleaded guilty to the abuse.
“They would certainly not have done so if the maid’s injuries were self-inflicted,” he said.
Last October, Maselly’s daughter, Nur Rizan Mohd Sazali, then 18, was jailed for two years and two months, for extracting the maid’s teeth and pouring hot wax over her head.
Her brother Muhammad Iz’aan Mohd Sazali, 20, was jailed six weeks for caning the maid.
Elsa Elyana Said, 24, described in court documents as Maselly’s lesbian lover, was jailed one year and five months for punching the maid and holding her down while her teeth were pulled out.
Maselly, who did not have a lawyer, told the court she intends to appeal against the conviction. — Straits Times
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
